Beat writers covering Colorado football had to chuckle under their breath during interviews after the 31-26 win over Texas Tech when Lubbock reporters asked CU coach Dan Hawkins if the Red Raiders had surprised him by opening with Aaron Crawford at running back instead of usual starter Shannon Woods.

Well, no.

Actually, Hawkins was more diplomatic with his answer, mentioning something about how CU defensive coordinator Ron Collins does consider the personnel of opponents but is more concerned with schemes and tendencies.

Can’t blame the Lubbock writers for looking into a possible story angle. But those who have been around Hawkins could have answered their question. Hawkins and his staff look at the big picture when evaluating film. Changes in the depth chart by the opponent usually won’t cause CU to adjust its game plan.

And this is Texas Tech’s running game we’re talking about. The Red Raiders ran the ball only nine times – for the game. Three other statistical “rushes” were sacks of Tech quarterback Graham Harrell.

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Trivia time: Name the last two CU regulars to hail from the state of Missouri. Hint: Both completed their eligibility in the same season.

Answer below.

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If I were a head football coach in the Big 12 Conference, I’d assign one assistant coach to recruit only the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and another to concentrate on Greater Houston and nowhere else.

Then I’d give them a stack of airline tickets to fly there on Fridays and scope out the top prospects.

Three of the nation’s top passers – Tech’s Harrell, Missouri’s Chase Daniel and New Mexico State’s Chase Holbrook – played high school football in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“A lot of teams there are now running pro-style offenses and the spread,’’ Harrell told me in a phone interview.

I must be getting old. I remember when the veer was the offense of choice among prep coaches in the Lone Star State.

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Tiger Woods’ dad, Earl, wrote a couple of books about his teaching methods. Perhaps Miami Dolphins wide receivers coach Terry Robiskie should do the same.

According to a story in the Buckeye Sports Bulletin, the elder Robiskie used some unique methods to develop the catching skills of his son, Ohio State star wideout Brian Robiskie.

“It was interesting to watch Brian at 11 catch a six-pack of Coca-Cola,’’ said Terry Robiskie, a former running back with the Oakland Raiders and Dolphins. “Catch a gallon of milk. If you had a bottle of soda, ‘Here, catch.’ He had to catch it. ‘If you drop it, it’s yours; that’s the one that was bought for you.’

“I’ve always preached catching. I’ve always done goofy things. I’ve got three boys, and I’d have them in the kitchen washing dishes. We’d wash a glass and dry it, throw it to Brian. He knows his mom is going to scream if he breaks that glass on her kitchen floor.

“The best one was with that little Superball you got out of a machine for a quarter. You throw it around the room, see the ball jumping all over the room like a jumping bean and tell him to catch it. I watched his eyes tracking the ball.’’

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It’s good to see that first-year Colorado men’s basketball coach Jeff Bzdelik likes at least a few of Ricardo Patton’s recent recruits.